Horses and Caterpillars
by Literaturefangirl
Summary: Hope's only wish is for her father to be home for dinner. Hank makes it a night to remember.
1. Horses

Seated at the dinner table of their two-storey house, Hope Pym chewed on a hamburger. A treat for her exceptional report card, cooked by her mother Janet Van Dyne. The tomatoes were sweet and the meat was warm and juicy. It filled her belly in no time. The only thing that could make the meal any better? If her father, Hank Pym were here to enjoy it with them. She knows he can have a late schedule sometimes because of work. She only wished he could make it to dinner once in a while.

"Mom, when's dad coming back? He's going to miss dinner." Hope asked her mother. Her voice conveying her disappointment for his absence and her concern for his hunger at the same time.

"He said he'd try to make it, Jellybean." Janet assured her, with faith for her husband. But the hands on the clock that read seven pm said otherwise.

One last bite into her burger, Hope heard the sound of jangling keys opening the front door. Her father was finally home and he had something with him.

"Sorry I'm late. I was getting something for my little girl." Hank apologized and held out a figurine of a bay horse. Hope's eyes lit up at the sight of the present and she hugged and thanked her father. The tightness of her embrace, telling Hank that this was more than her way of thanking him for the toy.

Hope was simply thankful that her father was home.

Thinking ahead, Janet put a beef patty in the microwave, so her husband wouldn't come home to cold leftovers. Spatula still in her hand, Hank surprised Janet by pulling her in for a kiss. Their lips met, the microwaved beeped and young Hope Van Dyne made a face as her parents kissed.

—

After dinner, Hope caught a glimpse of an action movie meant for her parent's eyes only. With a thrill in her heart, Hope ran to her room and jumped up and down on her mattress, practicing punches and air kicks at imaginary opponents. Hank got a glass of water from the kitchen during the commercials, when he heard the voice of his daughter play fighting and knew what was up. Improvising, Hank brought a pillow from the sofa for a shield and a wooden spoon from the kitchen for a sword and burst into the room.

"Your hero days have come to an end!" Hank warned with a mad look in his eyes and an evil grin, playing the role of the villain.

Delighted that her father had joined in, Hope smirked and grabbed a push toy from her bed. She threw it at the 'villain' and yelled. "Take that!"

"Ah! You got me!" Hank clutched at his chest where the toy had landed and took a calculated fall that would look convincing, without hurting himself.

Laying on the ground, Hank closed his eyes. Selling the part of the defeated villain. But in the short time his eyes remained shut, Hope was uncertain what was make believe anymore and rushed over to her father.

"Dad, are you okay?" She asked, shaking his shoulder to rouse him. Thankfully, he was only pretending. He could be so silly sometimes.

"I'm fine sweetheart. I was just playing." Hank reassured Hope and invited her for a hug with open arms. A gesture which did little to erase the distrustful look on her face. But after a moment of consideration, Hope forgave her father.

"Don't do that again. You scared me." Hope scolded her father, before accepting his apology hug.

—

"The next day was Sunday again. The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better." Janet read from 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' to Hope, while the two were lying on her bed.

"Just like daddy!" Hope exclaimed. Recalling how much her hungry father had enjoyed eating a hamburger after a long day at work.

"Now he wasn't hungry anymore, and he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore. He was a big, fat caterpillar. He built a small house around himself, called a cocoon. And he stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out, and... he was a beautiful butterfly."

"Doesn't he miss being a caterpillar?" Hope asked, feeling sympathy for the hungry caterpillar who had grown fat and turned into a different being as a result.

Proud of her little jellybean for her empathy towards others, Janet thought about what she said. Though the caterpillar might miss eating tasty treats, he would be less hungry as a butterfly and had been granted with the gift of flight.

"He might remember all the delicious food he used to eat, but the caterpillar would be happy that he could fly." Janet explained with a smile, and watched Hope consider what she had said.

"I wish I could fly." Hope said. A sentiment that Janet was familiar with, but one that she hoped her daughter would never experience. Two members of the Pym family risking their lives was enough.

"Maybe in your dreams, Jellybean." Janet told her daughter and gave her a goodnight kiss on the head.

—

"Your principal called me on the phone today. He said you kicked a boy in the shins."

"He pulled my hair! And dad said I should always finish a fight, even if I didn't start it." Hope defended herself. She was only following what her father had taught her. It wasn't her fault that Sammy was such a hair-pulling brat.

"Is _that_ what he said? He _should_ have said that sometimes it's better to walk away." Janet asked, sounding astonished and a little condescending. She knew that her husband acted tough and only wanted to impart her daughter with the strength to stand up for herself, but sometimes a little common sense could go a long way in preventing conflict and receiving phone calls from the principal.

"Put me in handcuffs, officer. I'm guilty as charged." Hank teased and held out his wrists close together for Janet to arrest him.

"That won't be necessary." Janet gave Hank a wry smile, and dismissed his surrender with a playful slap on the wrist.

* * *

 **Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn't really leave room for post-movie one-shots. So, I wrote fluffy ant sized drabbles about Hope's past with her parents instead. Enjoy! And please let me know what you think.**


	2. Juice

From the looks of the dark clouds forming in the sky, during the once sunny day. Hope realized that the day was not going to turn out the way she had planned.

The promised trip to the park would have to happen another day, unless she wanted to go down down a dripping, wet slide while it rained.

Hope's future trip to the park was not the only casualty of the gloomy weather. At recess, no one wanted to play tag or skip rope out of fear of splashing water from puddles on their ankles, making it a sad affair for everyone.

For others, deep puddles were an opportunity for mischief. Hope watched as a boy deliberately jumped in a puddle at Sammy's feet and shoved him to the side, while they made their getaway. It may have been Sammy who had suffered the misfortune of soggy socks, but no one deserved to be treated that way.

As strange as it may be to be helping the boy who had pulled her hair less than a week ago. Hope, nonetheless took a handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to Sammy who looked like he was on the verge of crying.

"Use this to dry your legs." Hope said, as Sammy wiped his nose with his hand. He should have used it on his nose first before wiping his legs. Hope thought. Oh well.

"Thank you." Sammy thanked Hope, with a sincere look in his eyes. Knowing that he meant it, Hope gave him a little smile back.

—

Another person feeling the ill-effects of the sudden shift in weather, as well as rising stress levels at work was Hank Pym. Whose dreams turned into a scathing likeness of his wife.

"Why did you have Elihas fired, Hank?"

"His methods were too radical, Jan. I couldn't let him continue his work." Hank tried to explain his colleague's firing to his critical wife, to no avail.

"Or maybe you couldn't stand to see him succeed." Janet insinuated. No, that wasn't it. Janet would never say something like that. It was too bad his feverish brain didn't know that.

When Hank woke the next morning, the uncomfortable feeling of damp clothes, accompanied with a headache and a lack of focus told Hank that he was now sick.

Burrowing his face in the pillow to delay the start of the day just a little longer, Janet heard her husband's muffled groans and turned him over to one side.

"Henry, you feel a little warm." Janet told him after pressing the back of her hand against his forehead.

"It's nothing. There's too many blankets on the bed." Hank tried to pass off the warmth caused by his illness on the overabundance of blankets. Her husband was argumentative, Janet knew that. But Hank wasn't fooling anyone.

"You're running a fever. I'll get you some aspirin."

—

Discovering that they were out of aspirin, Janet left a note in the kitchen telling Hope that she had gone to the chemist, with instructions not to disturb her father in case she didn't return when Hope had woken up. Hope, however was an early riser that morning. And after reading Janet's note, fixed herself some breakfast. After she was done, Hope decided that her father not wanting to be disturbed wouldn't last forever and she knocked on the door. Wanting to know why she couldn't visit him from the man himself.

"Dad, can I come in?" Hope asked for permission to enter. When she did not make out Hank's raspy answer, she went inside.

Dressed in grey and white flannel pyjamas, Hank was sitting up in his bed. His face looking flushed and weary.

"Sorry, I couldn't see you see this morning. I have to stay in bed because I'm sick." Hank explained to Hope.

Poor dad. Hope thought when she saw how tired he looked. Staying in bed was no way to spend a Saturday. It was for sleeping in and having pancakes.

"Don't you want to eat breakfast?" Hope asked.

"I'm not very hungry." Hank replied, giving Hope an idea. Running to her room, Hope came back with a juice box in her hand.

"A juice box?"

"It's not a lot to drink, but it's yummy." Hope told him. Having considered that Hank didn't have much room for food, but would appreciate the drink.

Taking a sip from the straw, Hank smiled as the liquid soothed his parched throat. "Thank you, it _is_ delicious."

—

Letting her father rest. Hope entertained herself with toys and drawings and checked in on her father every once in a while. Enough time passed and Hank became bored of only having his unfocused thoughts to get him through his malaise. Realizing that she could help her father, Hope came back with her exercise book and sat down next to him on the bed, reading what she'd written at school.

"At school I learned that blue whales are the biggest animals in the world. And that they eat tiny creatures called krill."

I wonder how she'd react if she saw her father growing 20 feet tall? Hank thought with a smile, about the confidential project G.O.L.I.A.T.H he'd never be able to show his daughter.

After some time, Janet returned from the chemist and entered the bedroom with a glass of water and aspirin. Where to her surprise, Hope was sitting on the bed with Hank, eating ice-cream from a bowl. Not the image of her sleeping husband she had expected.

"What _have_ you been eating while I was gone?" Janet asked, noticing the juice box and two bowls on the bed.

"Juice boxes and ice-cream. Very medicinal." Hank quipped.

"Did he put you up to this?" Janet asked Hope. Wondering why her husband had indulged in consuming sugary foods, instead of something nutritious like soup to fight a fever.

"No, it was my idea." Hope said with a grin.

* * *

 **I think that Hank should be held accountable for Ava's accident, at least by his fever induced conscience. So, here's a sick fic where Hope brings Hank a juice box, because I wanted to capture these sweet moments before he grows distant from Hope.**


End file.
